New Schools Coming to Greater Moncton: What's Funded, Where and When

New Brunswick is building new schools in Greater Moncton, and the biggest of them is on the city's east end. In March, the Province announced a $96.5 million kindergarten to Grade 8 school for the Fairview Knoll area. Two more projects have followed: a new building for École Saint-Henri in Moncton in April, and a replacement for Salisbury Elementary announced on September 16.

For families deciding where to buy, schools shape everything from the shortlist to the commute. Here is what is funded, where it is going, and when it is expected to open, along with what it means if you are buying or selling nearby.

Fairview Knoll: a $96.5 million K-8 school for Moncton's east end

The largest project is a new K-8 school on the current Forest Glen School site on Keenan Drive, in the Fairview Knoll area of Moncton's east end. It will combine Forest Glen School, which serves kindergarten to Grade 4, and Sunny Brae Middle School, which serves Grades 5 to 8, into one building for 990 students.

The Province lists a stage, a performing arts room, gyms and change rooms among the facilities. Construction is expected to begin in 2027, with the school anticipated to open in September 2030. Both existing schools will stay open until the new one is ready.

"This new school will give students in Moncton's east end a modern, well-equipped place to learn," Education Minister Claire Johnson said in the announcement.

Keenan Drive runs off Elmwood Drive, a few minutes south of the Elmwood Drive interchange on the Trans-Canada Highway.

École Saint-Henri: a new building instead of a renovation

In April, the Province announced that École Saint-Henri, a francophone kindergarten to Grade 5 school in Moncton, will get a new building rather than the $50.1 million upgrade that had been approved in the 2024-25 budget. An assessment found the retrofit would have taken five to six years of work on a building constructed in 1965.

The need is driven by growth. Enrolment reached 497 students as of October 1, 2025, up from 314 in 2021, an increase of 58% in four years. The 2026-27 capital budget allocates $18.6 million to the project. A total cost and opening date have not been announced.

Salisbury Elementary: a $52.7 million replacement

The newest announcement, on September 16, is a replacement for Salisbury Elementary School, which is 78 years old. The $52.7 million school will serve 450 students from kindergarten to Grade 5 and will be about 45% larger than the current building, with music and performing arts spaces and a multi-function room for school and community use.

It will be built near the current school, with a land exchange with the Town that keeps the existing baseball and softball fields. The 2026-27 budget commits $2.93 million for design, construction is expected to begin in 2027-28, and the school is anticipated to open in September 2030. For buyers weighing homes in Salisbury, a new elementary school is a practical selling point.

Also on the list

École Mathieu-Martin in Dieppe is slated for a mid-life upgrade and addition, one of six major projects the Province listed to begin in 2026-27. A cost has not been published.

Two further schools are being discussed but are not funded: an English-language school in Dieppe and a francophone school in Riverview, both the subject of local advocacy this year. Treat them as proposals until the Province puts money behind them. Dieppe is also planning for new school sites in its Dieppe South Secondary Plan, which commits the City to work with the Province on locating them.

What it means for buyers and sellers

If you are buying with children, check the catchment before you fall for the house. When schools are combined, as Forest Glen and Sunny Brae will be, attendance boundaries can change. The Anglophone East School District and the District scolaire francophone Sud can confirm which school serves a specific address today and whether that is expected to change.

Timing matters too. Fairview Knoll and Salisbury are both targeted for September 2030. A child entering kindergarten now would start in the current building and could finish elementary school in the new one. Opening dates are provincial targets and can move, so plan around the schools that exist today.

If you own near Keenan Drive or in Salisbury, a confirmed new school is a genuine point in your favour when you sell. It answers a question every family buyer asks, and it is worth featuring in your listing. A free home evaluation is a sensible starting point if you are thinking about timing.

Taken together, three funded projects in Moncton and Salisbury, two of them tied directly to enrolment growth, are a useful signal that family demand in these areas is expected to hold.

Sources: Government of New Brunswick news releases of March 23, 2026 (Fairview Knoll K-8 school), April 17, 2026 (École Saint-Henri) and December 3, 2025 (2026-27 capital budget school projects); Department of Education and Early Childhood Development release of September 16, 2026 on Salisbury Elementary, as republished by the Town of Salisbury. Costs, capacities and dates are as announced by the Province. Construction and opening dates are provincial targets and may change.